


On Your Ground (Epilogue)

by platypiandi



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 02:12:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3673653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/platypiandi/pseuds/platypiandi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the extension to uncreativename/katitlynsgonnakait/kaitlyn's original hollistien Dr. AU.</p><p>This was written with full support and help from the original author.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Your Ground (Epilogue)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [On Your Ground](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3316604) by [uncreativename](https://archiveofourown.org/users/uncreativename/pseuds/uncreativename). 



12 years later: A Snapshot

\--------

Laura stands in a hallway cursing the magnetic lock to her hotel room. The little red light mocks her as she curses her decision to even come to this stupid medical conference in the first place. She missed her family and desperately needed a good nights sleep. One more night and she’d be home, that is if she could get into her room of course.

“You tricky son of a—“ _click_ , “Finally!”

She pushes into her hotel room with a frustrated huff and tosses her bag on the bed, still questioning her own ambitions in becoming one of the top surgeons in her field. She just wanted to do her job. Not hobnob at conferences with various members of hospital administrations. She could only take so many stupid medical puns and half-hearted attempts to kiss her ass by those lower on the administrative totem pole.

She’s grumpy.

She’s tired.

She just wants to see her family.

Glancing at the clock she removes her blazer with frustration.

“I was almost late! Ugh. Okay. Ten minutes…”

She buzzes around the room without any direction (mind scattered from exhaustion) for a brief moment while wringing her hands with indecision before coming up with a set plan of action.

She removes her laptop from her bag and sets it up on the cheap desk; making sure the power cord is connected as well. Two nights ago she was interrupted with a sudden 5% warning and spent a good twenty minutes digging through her bag full of stress balls, Frisbees, pens, and notepads (all labeled with various pharmaceutical brand names) only to return to a dead laptop. She’s had a long day and would be damned if she had to settle for a phone call tonight.

Glancing at the clock again she darts to the small (even by her standards) bathroom to wash the day off her face and switch into an old pair of sweatpants.

Groping blindly at counter with shut eyes and wet face, she realizes there is no washcloth. Her eyes open to check the shelf above the toilet only to roll them in disappointment as she realizes the towels haven’t been replaced. She makes a mental note to not wait for the last minute in booking a room next time. This hotel had seemed decent enough online but left much to be desired in reality. It was her own fault really; she wasted too much time hoping she could worm her way out of coming in the first place.

She’s unbuttoning her blouse when suddenly the familiar ringtone of Skype cuts through the air. Grabbing an old t-shirt and slipping it over her head she darts out of the bathroom (stumbling over shoes & almost busting her ass in the process) and slides into the chair in front of the desk, excitedly clicking the bright red ‘Answer call’ button.

The screen lights up she’s greeted by t-rex with a purple bow on its head with what looks like yellow painted nails that are too suspiciously neat for an 7 (“and a half Mommy” she likes to add on days she’s feeling extra grownup) year old to have done. A little hand with a bright red super hero band-aid on the tip of one finger moves it back and forth making it lunge in and out of focus at the webcam.

“Rrrrawrr!”

Laura finds herself overjoyed by her dinosaur greeting and a heartening laugh escapes her.

“Hello there and what’s your name?”

Another roar and then a whisper just outside the camera view, “Momma what was that name from your book? It started with an ‘E’ like elephant.”

Another voice just outside the screen quietly (and full of pride) responded, “Epicurus, sweetie.”

A high pitched giggle fills the speakers as a tiny face fills the screen. “Okay, so Momma told me the name but it’s too long so we’re just going to call it Elly. Did you hear that Mommy? This is Elly, like elephant.”

Seeing the nail polish, Laura thinks back to a time not long ago she was gone for only a moment to come back into the room to a giggling maniac of a child with teal toes (painted in their entirety) and a matching toe prints dotting the middle of her favorite rug.

“Well, hello there Elly, I see you found my nail polish. Please tell me Momma helped you with that and that it’s not all over you or the carpet.”

With one smooth motion, the little girl is picked up, placed on a lap and two faces fill the screen. Laura smiles brightly as her view becomes illuminated with the two loves of her life.

She eyes Carmilla, who is shrugging nonchalant in the background.

“She may have had a little help picking out the color,” she says while trying to hide her own amusement.

The hotel fades around Laura and just the three of them fill the room. Adeline talks about all the adventures they had during the week. Half of that time being taken up by an exciting rendition of their exploits at the zoo (where Elly came from, who also happily offered a commentary of various roars throughout the conversation).

Laura tries to concentrate on the stories of the zoo, the park, and fishing with grandpa; she really does, but her eyes keep meeting Carmilla’s and she’s losing focus on the tiny hands trying to imitate the movements of monkeys jumping about.

God, she missed her wife.

Carmilla takes note and arches an eyebrow in line with her ever increasing smile. She leans forward slightly; Addy turns her head then grins as something was being whispered in her ear.

Laura narrows her eyes, tilts her head slightly and tries to listen in - something about going to play with her cousin.

A little whine escapes, “but he’s no fun since Uncle Will let him bring his video games!” More whispers follow a pout; Laura swears she hears mention of ice cream & cookies (both hers and Adeline’s absolute favorite dessert combination ever).

Adeline nods and hops down; the top of her head disappearing from sight. Laura strains to listen to the tiny feet scampering across the floor.

Carmilla turns her head for a moment to watch the little one take off down the hallway then quickly turns her attention back to the screen.

“Hey.”

Carmilla tilts her head and smiles warmly. “Hey.”

“You know if you give her ice cream now you’ll never get her to bed.”

“I never said anything about ice cream or about when or where this supposed bribery takes place. It’s rude to eavesdrop and you should get your ears checked Dr. Hollis--- Is that my shirt?”

Laura shrugs. “It smells like home-- like you…” A mischievous grin takes the place of a soft smile, “I could take it off if you’d prefer…”

Carmilla cocks her eyebrow and swallows, “Uh, as much as I would truly love that cupcake, and trust me I _really, really_ would, I think if you did it would end up being more like torture rather than a simple tease. For both of us.”

Laura pouts dramatically while resting her forehead against her palm, “Yeah…. You’re right….” She puffs out a small breath of air to push the hair out of her face.

“Hey now, cut that out, cupcake. You’re adorable when you do that too, so that isn’t helping the situation either.”

Laura sits up narrowing her eyes. She knows Carmilla is right, though the idea is beyond being tempting.  She takes a moment to remind herself that she will be alone when this video call ends and dealing with that level of frustration is something she’d rather not do.

Laura shifts in her chair, pulling a knee up towards her chest and wrapping her arms around it. Her shirt lifts slightly in the back exposing bare skin. She gets lost for brief moment when a chill runs up her back. The mental image of her wife’s face mid-tease consumes her thoughts while she simultaneously scolds herself knowing they’d both just end up beyond sexually frustrated, straight into outright suffering.

Carmilla recognizes the look on her wife’s face (also noting a slight blush creeping up both their necks)--- deciding it would be best, for all involved, to interrupt Laura’s brief reverie. She snaps her fingers once, then points towards the camera, “Hey! Don’t even think about it.”

Laura’s shoulders drop in line with a pout. “Fineeeee.”

The conversation turns back towards the events of the week once again until it falls comfortably quiet for a moment.

“I really miss you, you know.”

“I really miss you too,” Carmilla pauses for a beat then adds, “the bed is too big and Addy says my cocoa isn’t the same.”

“Are you doing something different?”

Carmilla replies with a short breathy laugh, “No, she just misses you….” She trails off briefly before changing the subject abruptly to avoid wandering into more somber conversation.

“So were you able to get an earlier flight?”

“No, unfortunately not. LaF can still pick Addy up from school while you meet me at the airport, right?”

“Yeah, she and Ryley got paired up for the science fair again so LaFontaine is over the moon about it. Perry is worried about the well being of the kitchen appliances--- also for the safety of LaF in general.”

“Oh god, poor Perry! I bet she still hasn’t even recovered from last year’s science fair.” Laura tries to sound sympathetic but secretly she’s just glad that majority of the experiments are done far away from their own home.

Carmilla pauses thinking back to that particularly explosive (literally) family cookout, shaking her head with laughter, “I don’t think anyone has. Danny still won’t let me live down that dent in her car, Will is still trying to get grass to grow back on that bald spot in his yard, AND technically we still owe Perry a new blender since we refused to sacrifice ours...” She pauses to wipe a small tear from the corner of her eye, “How LaFontaine talked her into using theirs I’ll never know.”

They continued with the light-hearted conversation for awhile before Laura found her eyes heavy and squeaky yawns escaped her. The time difference had been a drain on them both but Laura more so. One more day and she’d be home. _Just one more day_ , Carmilla tells herself before she urges Laura to try and get some sleep.

“Laura, please; you can barely hold your eyes open.”

“Just a few more minutes Carm.”

Those few minutes stretched into a half hour of heavy-lidded conversation until suddenly Laura finds herself waking to the familiar sound of a page turning. Wiping a small dribble of saliva from the corner of her mouth she sits up and looks at the screen. Evidently Carmilla has moved her tablet into their bedroom.

She looks down in the corner of her screen and sees that two hours have passed. Laura feels her heart warm as she takes in the quiet sight of Carmilla reading idly with Adeline curled quietly snoring at her side.

God she missed her family.

She takes a few moments to get lost in adoration before quietly clearing her throat in attempt to gain attention from her wife.  She’s successful and is greeted with warm brown eyes.

Closing her book, Carmilla grins softly gesturing to her screen, “Hey there cutie, love what you’ve done with your face.”

Laura pauses bringing her hand up to touch her cheek. She feels the impression of her keyboard on her skin. Awesome. She’d like to say this was the first time this had occurred but history had shown it to happen at least once every time she went out of town. (Carmilla had done it as well once or twice though she’d never admit it. Sometimes even her night owl nature couldn’t keep up with Laura’s schedule - especially when time zones applied to the situation.)

Carmilla speaks again, “Now, are you going to listen to me and try and get some actual sleep? And before you be a smartass, passing out on a desk doesn’t count. I’m pretty sure I can make out the individual letters imprinted on your face.”

“Don’t be dramatic, I’m totally --, “ Laura is cut off, body betraying her with a deep yawn. Carmilla just watches with loving eyes and an _‘I told you so_ ’ smirk.

Ignoring Laura’s stubborn protests she grabs the tablet and pulls it closer, then moves to gently shake Adeline awake, “Hey there cookie monster, let’s tell Mommy goodnight okay?”

Small eyes open slowly and are rubbed with tiny hands. They come into focus, a smile graces Adeline’s face, “Goodnight Mommy, I love you.”

“We both love you and miss you and can’t wait for you to be home. Now, go get some sleep. I love you Laura.”

Laura can’t help but cock her head to the side and return the loving smiles that grace her screen.

“Goodnight you two. Mommy loves you both very much. Try and stay out of trouble until I get home alright? It’s only one more day.”

Carmilla rolls her eyes briefly and arches a brow before returning to a warm smile, “We make no promises. Now quit stalling and get to bed.” She then makes a little shooing motion with her hand towards the camera.

Laura rolls her eyes and puts her hands up in defeat, “Okay… Okay… Goodnight Carm, I love you.”

“Goodnight Cupcake, I love you too. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow,” Laura repeats nodding in a quiet promise.

Tomorrow.

 


End file.
